Rotary power apparatus



y 1942- J. F. SKINNER 2,288,653

ROTARY POWER APPARATUS Filed Jan. 8, 1940 a Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor-John F skinner (ltloyne j July 7, 1942. SKINNER K 2,288,653

ROTARY POWER APPARATUS Filed Jan. 8, 194G 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 3nventor Johnskinner W Gttorucgi July 7, 1942.

J. F. SKINNER ROTARY POWER APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 8, 1940r O 1. n e D n 3 I John F Skinner Gttomeg Patented July 7, 1942 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE 2,288,653 ROTARY POWER APPARATUS v John F. Skinner,Flint, Mich. Application January 8, 1940, Serial-No. 312,899 2 Claims.(01. 60-54) This invention relates to rotary power apparatus andparticularly to apparatus employing a fluid medium to transmit a torqueor rotation from a driving member to a drivenmember.

The present invention may be considered as an improvement upon theapparatus disclosed in my United States Patent 2,088,818 issued AugustAn object of the invention is to adapt the driving member of a powerapparatus to rotate Within a body of liquid employed to transmit a driveto a driven member, and to provide vanes on the driving member acting toraise said liquid and deliver it to substantially radial nozzles, fromwhich it is expelled centrifugally, at high velocity,

against suitable impelling vanes carried by the driven member. I

Another object is to adapt the liquid, after expending its centrifugalenergy against said vanes to fall back into said tank, so that a limitedquantity thereof sufiices for continued use of the apparatus.

A further object is to counteract such swirling of the liquid in thetank as would tend to centrifugally resist delivery of the liquid to thenozzle inlets.

A further object is to adapt the driven member of the describedapparatus to serve as a cover for the described tank.

These and various other objects the invention attains by theconstruction hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of an apparatus embodying theinvention.

Fig, 2 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus, taken upon theline 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, taken upon the line 3-3 of Fig.2, showing the nozzle formation of the driving member and theimpact-receiving blades of the driven member.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken upon the line l4 of Fig. 2,showing the nozzle formation of the driving member, and further showinga set of upper vanes for delivering liquid to the nozzles.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 2showing structural features of the tank, and a set of lower vanescarried by the driving member.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section, taken on the line 6-6 of Fig.2, and showing the inclination of said vanes in the direction ofrotation.

Fig, 7 is a sectional detail view, taken on the line 1-1 of Fi 1,showing how the tank of the apparatus is anchored to an upright.

In these views, the reference character I designates an open-toppedcircular tank seated on a circular plate 2 which forms the base of theapparatus and is suitably elevated by legs 3. Centrally welded orotherwise rigidly secured to the plate 2, therebeneath, is the housing 4of an anti-friction thrust bearing 5. Engaging such bearing is the lowerend of a substantially vertical shaft 6, upwardly extending along thevertical axis of the tank and projecting a considerable distance abovethe latter. A bearing 7, journaling the upper end of said shaft isrigidly carried by a plurality of radial arms 8, the outer portions ofwhich are downwardly curved and integrally joined with vertical columns9, bolted at H! or otherwise rigidly connected to the plate 2. The upperportion of the tank I is rigidly secured to said arms by suitableU-bolts I I, as best appears in Fig. 7;

Welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the shaft 6, within the upperportion of the tank, is the hub l2 of the driving member of a fluidcoupling. Rigidly connected, as by welding, to said hub, is a pluralityof radially extending vertical plates l3 and to the mid portion of eachplate I3 is welded a shorter vertical plate I4 extending outwardly at agradual convergence to an adjacent plate l3 and forming with the lattera nozzle IS. A top closure for the several nozzles I5 is formed by ahorizontal circular plate l6 welded to the top edges of the describedvertical plates and extending from the hub l2 to the outer ends of thevertical plates. A bottom closure for said nozzles is formed by a plateI! of inverted frustro-conical shape, welded to the lower edges of theplates [3 and I4, and extending from the junctures of such plates totheir outer ends. Said lower edges are inclined upwardly as they extendoutwardly to conform to the inclination of the plate H. To the inneredge of the plate I! is welded a depending collar l8, coaxial with theshaft 6 and defining a liquid inlet common to all of the nozzles l5, andsaid collar has a frustro-conical downward extension 19, providing aflaring entrance to said inlet. Radially disposed within the collar I8is a plurality of vanes 20 inclined at approximately forty-five degreesto the direction of rotation and serving to impel liquid upwardly intothe nozzles when the shaft is driven, and a lesser number of similarlyinclined vanes 2| i rigidly carried by and within the extension ill toapply additional upward impulsion to the liquid,

Spaced slightly above the described driving member of the fluidcoupling, is a horizontal circular plate 22 which is centrally aperturedto freely accommodate the shaft 6 and which in conjunction with a set ofvanes 23 carried by its outer portion, forms .the driven member of saidfluid coupling. Said outer portion is downwardly curved, as best appearsin Fig. 2, to locate the vanes 23 in an outwardly opposed relation tothe nozzles I5. Said vanes, which are welded to the plate 22, projecttoward the nozzles at a predetermined divergence to the latter such thatthe jets discharged by the nozzles will impose a desired rotative forceon the vanes. Welded to the plate 22 thereabove, is a combined hub andpulley element 24, journal'ed on the shaft 6 through suitableanti-friction bearings 25, said element being formed with a suitablenumber of grooves 26 engageable by drive belts (not shown) fortransmitting any desired drive. The driving member of the fluid couplingprovides a support for the driven member thereof, an anti-frictionthrust bearing 21 being interposed for that purpose between the plates22 and I6. 7

Above the element 24, there is fixedly mounted on the shaft 6 a pulley28 to which drive is transmitted through a belt 29 from a motor 3!]installed on a suitable plate 3| connecting two of the columns 9.

It is preferred to arrange a suitable number' of circumferentiallyspaced, radial vertical plates 32 in the outer portion of the tank I,extend ing inwardly from the tank wall, and subjacent to the vanes 23,the utility of these plates being hereinafter explained.

To prevent access of the drive-transmitting liquid to the bearing 5, itis preferred to surround the submerged portion of the shaft 6 with asealing sleeve 33, welded at its lower end to the tank I and having itsupper portion overlapped by the lower part of the hub I2, a suitablepacking ring 34 being preferably compressed between the top end of saidsleeve and an annular shoulder of the hub.

In use of the described apparatus, upon establishing a drive to theshaft 6, the nozzleforming member is rotated, together with the collarI8, extension I9, and vanes 20 and 2|. The latter deliver liquidupwardly and into the nozzles, from which it is continuouslycentrifugally ejected at high velocity. It will be noted that thenozzles discharge in a direction opposed by a slight angle to thedirection of drive, so that inertia of the liquid supplementscentrifugal force in imparting an outward velocity. The jets from thenozzles forcefully encounter the vanes 23 and thus transmit a drive tothe member 22, 23, and from the latter this drive is transmitted asdesired by the pulley element 24. For light loads, the driven member ofthe fluid coupling will be actuated at a speed only slightly less thanthat of the driving member, and the transmitted speed will decreaseaccordingly as the driven load increases. Having spent its velocityagainst the vanes 23, the drive-transmitting liquid falls back into theouter portion of the tank, maintaining the requisite level in thelatter. The purpose of the plates 32 is to prevent such swirling of theliquid as would raise its level adjacent the tank wall and tend to thuscause overflow and withdraw liquid from the vanes 20 and 2I.

Any suitable liquid may serve as a power-transmitting medium, waterbeing preferred because of its low cost and ready availability. However,a relatively heavy liquid medium such as mercury may be desirable incase both a maximum power transmission and a minimum size of apparatusare vital.

A drive of the described character presents numerous advantages ascompared to ordinary clutches or other positive rotary transmissiondevices. As above pointed out, an automatic regulation of speed to suitthe load is achieved and the power source is safeguarded againstoverload. Sudden variations of load will not impose undue stresseseither on the transmission means or the source of power. Centrifugalforce is so utilized in the described apparatus as to assure it a highefficiency. When installed in a vehicle, the apparatus will act stronglyto prevent tilting or overturning of such vehicle, due to gyroscopiceffect of the rapidly rotating parts.

What I claim is:

1. A rotary power apparatus comprising a tank for receiving adrive-transmitting liquid, a substantially vertical shaft extendingthrough and projecting above said tank, a thrust bearing for said shaftdisposed below said tank, a. sleeve having liquid-sealed engagement withthe tank bottom and extending upwardl above the level of liquid in thetank, in a surrounding relation to said shaft, a driving member securedon said shaft above said sleeve and having a substantially centralliquid inlet below the liquid level in the tank, and having a pluralityof nozzles discharging toward the wall of the tank, and a driven memberrotatable on said shaft above said driving member and having a pluralityof vanes opposed to the outlets of said nozzles, and so diverged to thenozzles as to adapt the impact on said vanes of liquid discharged fromthe nozzles to establish a drive to the driven member.

2. A rotary power apparatus as set forth in claim 1, the driving memberhaving a hub downwardly extending in a surrounding, liquid-sealingrelation to the upper portion of said sleeve.

JOHN F. SKINNER.

